Mick McCarthy will take his first step towards trying to freshen things up at the Stadium of Light this evening after admitting that he has inherited the worst team in Premiership football.

Mick McCarthy will take his first step towards trying to freshen things up at the Stadium of Light this evening after admitting that he has inherited the worst team in Premiership football.

The Sunderland boss, having lost his first two matches in charge of the struggling club, will hand Jeff Whitley a chance to impress when the Black Cats reserves take on Manchester United at Durham City.

The former Manchester City player, a free agent having been released by Kevin Keegan earlier this season, trained on Wearside last week and will come under close scrutiny when he wears the red-and-white stripes tonight.

And with McCarthy determined to add new faces to his squad following Sunderland's eighth straight league defeat at West Ham on Saturday, the former Northern Ireland international will be keen to make his mark.

"Jeff has been training with us," confirmed the Wearsiders' manager last night. "He will play for the reserves and I am looking forward to seeing him.

"We are always looking and assessing players, it's an ongoing thing. The team obviously needs changing, they are bottom and are the worst team in the league.

"That it needs changing is as plain as the nose on my face. Fresh faces would help me to lift the desperation here.

"If the worst does happens and we go down I want fresh players, people who want a fresh challenge, people who will be able to get this club back in the Premier League where it deserves to be.

"The players here know that they are playing for their futures. I have not gone around each and every one of them and said that, but they will know, they will be aware."

Although aware that relegation is likely to cost him the services of Sunderland's best players, McCarthy admits he may struggle to offload some of the present squad this summer.

"If we get relegated there may be some players who will want to leave," he said. "Maybe some of them feel that their futures lie away from this club, perhaps they feel they are better than the First Division.

"But if I can't move them on, they will have to get ready for a tough pre-season and then prepare themselves to play in the First Division, they will have no choice."

McCarthy, who succeeded Howard Wilkinson at the Stadium of Light almost two weeks ago, has watched his Sunderland team lose 2-0 in each of his two games in charge.

Although the former Republic of Ireland boss will fight until the end, he knows that relegation from the top flight is inevitable for a side who have won just four league matches all season.

* SUNDERLAND'S second string take on Manchester United at Durham City's Archibalds Stadium (7pm). The game is all-ticket and there will be no admissions on the night.